Ace in the Hole
Ace in the Hole is a case featured in Criminal Case, appearing as the fifth case of the game as well as the city of Clearford. It is also the fifth case to take place in Vocation City, a district based in Clearford. Plot Following the events of the three consecutive murder cases with Gale, the player is assigned to work with Officer Angel Pearson in patrolling Neon Heights, the only American quadrant in Vocation City, during their night shift. As the team pass by the Atlantis Trinket Casino, they are greeted by its owner, Samantha Fleming. After denying her offer of free alcoholic drinks, the team went to the graveyard to have a quick look but they end up finding a hand sticking out of the earth which is holding two poker cards with blood on them. The victim was identified by Angel to be Michael "Ace" Rosendale, a newcomer at gambling known for cheating. The team initiated a murder investigation then shipped the body off to Evelyn for autopsy. She informed the team of her results - Ace was slowly flayed to death and the killer chose specific spots to cut Ace's skin in order to keep him alive as long as possible. The team managed to flag five suspects. One of them was a professional gambler named Jack Prescott, who was blackmailed by the victim to do sexual favors after it was revealed that Jack cheated himself. The second was the owner of the Atlantis Trinket Casino who the team already encountered, Samantha Fleming, who . A recurring suspect is a homeless immigrant and leader of the Mexican homeless community named Maria Benedetti tried to scare the victim into giving her money after he denied her request. Another recurring suspect is the heir, August Eastman, whose past was about to be exposed by the victim. The final suspect was a Russian international gambler named Dimitri Nestor, who sought to embarrass the victim during the International Poker games but he ended up being embarrassed himself. Once the team acquired enough evidence, they discovered that the killer was the professional gambler, Jack Prescott. Angel was ecstatic to reveal the evidence to the gambler where he was infuriated. Jack considered Ace to be a threat to his lifestyle due to his habit of cheating all the time. One night, Ace revealed Jack to be a cheater himself. Ace blackmailed him in exchange for sexual favors, to which Jack denied as he harbored a deep hatred towards Caucasians and homosexuals, despite him being Caucasian and homosexual himself. Jack didn't like the skin that he was in and decided that Ace wasn't fit to live in his own. So, he got him drunk at the casino bar where he lured Ace to the graveyard. From there, Jack stabbed him to incapacitate him. He proceeded to cut tiny chunks of Ace's skin until he slowly bled to death. Jack quickly tried to bury him but Ace was still alive as he grabbed two of Jack's lucky poker cards. Ace then eventually died of his wounds and still had his hand sticking out of the earth with the two cards at hand. Angel was disgusted and deemed Jack as a psycho before shipping him to court. At Jack's trial, he told the Honorable King that he considered eating the flesh but knew that he would be given away too easily. Judge King reminisced of the time he was kidnapped by unknown men who forced him to eat human flesh. According to him, it tasted nothing like chicken and recommended that Jack does not try it. Despite King's unprofessionalism, he sentenced Jack to 25 years in prison with no possibility of parole. Moments after the trial, the team was notified by the Chief of Police, Warren Winter, that the Atlantis Trinket Casino was robbed. They also faced another task - speaking to a distressed Maria Benedetti. The team went to the casino and were scolded by Samantha, who now harbored a disliking toward the team for pulling her away from the casino as it was being robbed. The team searched the casino and found what the thieves had dropped. A few of the casino's gold bars and August Eastman's priceless diamond ring were all that remained. Samantha continued to express her chagrin and even told the team to leave and never come back. On the other hand, August was grateful that the team returned his ring. He also informed them that The Ladri was responsible for this as he admitted that he joined the organization. August wishes to inform any results he can gather from The Ladri to the police. When inquired about why he was doing this, August was silent. Meanwhile, Maria had lost something personal of hers in the graveyard. The team found her notebook which consisted of a photo of her and Edgardo Provenza, as well as a love letter from him to Maria. Angel noticed faded red marker and after dusting the love letter, a few of the words were circled. Spencer analyzed it and informed the team that the love letter contained a hidden message which read: "Let's get married". The team went to console Maria, who thanked the team and wished them good luck in the future. Stats Victim * Michael "Ace" Rosendale (He was flayed to death then buried in the graveyard) Murder Weapon * Kitchen Knife Killer * Jack Prescott Suspects Profile *The suspect is a gambler *The suspect plays poker Appearance * The suspect has an oil stain * The suspect wears yellow clothes Profile *The suspect is a gambler *The suspect plays poker Appearance * The suspect has an oil stain * The suspect wears yellow clothes Profile *The suspect plays poker Appearance * The suspect has an oil stain Profile *The suspect is a gambler *The suspect plays poker Appearance * The suspect wears yellow clothes Profile *The suspect is a gambler *The suspect plays poker Appearance * The suspect has an oil stain Killer's Profile * The killer is a gambler. * The killer plays poker. * The killer has an oil stain. * The killer is male. * The killer wears yellow clothes. Crime Scenes Steps Chapter 1 * Investigate Vocation City Graveyard. (Clues: Victim's Body, Earth Pile, Torn Card) * Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Evidence: Killer is a gambler) * Examine Earth Pile. (Result: Faded Card) * Examine Faded Card. (Result: Unknown Phone Number) * Analyze Unknown Phone Number. (03:00:00; New Suspect: Jack Prescott) * Talk to Jack Prescott about his dead gambling buddy. (Prerequisite: Unknown Phone Number analyzed) * Examine Torn Card. (Result: Atlantis Trinket Casino Card; New Suspect: Samantha Fleming; New Crime Scene: Casino Lounge) * Talk to Samantha Fleming about the victim. (Prerequisite: Casino Card unraveled) * Investigate Casino Lounge. (Clues: Victim's Briefcase, Notepad; Prerequisite: Casino Card unraveled) * Examine Victim's Briefcase. (Result: Playing Cards) * Analyze Playing Cards. (09:00:00; Evidence: Killer plays poker) * Examine Notepad. (Result: Fingerprint) * Examine Fingerprint. (New Suspect: Maria Benedetti) * Question Maria about her bet with the victim. (Prerequisite: Maria's Fingerprint identified) * Go to Chapter 2. (No stars) Chapter 2 * Talk to August Eastman about his attack. (Available after unlocking Chapter 2) * Investigate Gambling Show Set. (Clues: Broken Metal Pieces, Locked Box; Available after unlocking Chapter 2) * Examine Broken Metal Pieces. (Result: Strange Device) * Analyze Strange Device. (09:00:00; New Suspect: Dimitri Nestor) * Ask Dimitri about his complicated tracking device. (Prerequisite: Strange Device analyzed) * Examine Locked Safe. (Result: Opened Safe) * Examine Opened Safe. (Result: Oil-stained Rag) * Analyze Oil-strained Rag. (12:00:00; Evidence: Killer has an oil stain) * Investigate Casino Table. (Clues: Torn Letter, Revolver; Prerequisite: Talk to August) * Examine Torn Letter. (Result: Blackmail Letter) * Question Jack about Ace's blackmail letter. (Prerequisite: Blackmail Letter restored) * Examine Revolver. (Result: Serial Number) * Analyze Serial Number. (06:00:00) * Ask Maria why she brought a revolver inside the casino. (Prerequisite: Serial Number analyzed) * Go to Chapter 3. (No stars) Chapter 3 * Talk to Samantha Fleming about her affair with the victim. (Available after unlocking Chapter 3) * Investigate Tombstones. (Clues: Paper Pieces, Bottle; Prerequisite: Talk to Samantha) * Examine Paper Pieces. (Result: Family Album) * Talk to August about his relation to the victim. (Prerequisite: Family Album restored) * Examine Bottle. (Result: Bottle Label) * Analyze Bottle Label. (09:00:00) * Ask Dimitri Nestor about his bottle of poison. (Prerequisite: Bottle Label analyzed) * Investigate Casino Lounge. (Clue: Wooden Box; All three suspects must be interrogated first) * Examine Wooden Box. (Result: Skin) * Analyze Skin. (09:00:00; Evidence: Killer wears yellow clothes) * Investigate Gambling Table. (Clue: Crate; Available after unlocking Chapter 3) * Examine Crate. (Result: Kitchen Knife) * Analyze Kitchen Knife. (15:00:00; Murder weapon identified: Kitchen Knife; Evidence: Killer is male) * Take care of the killer now! * Go to Beg, Borrow, or Steal 5/10. (No stars) Beg, Borrow, or Steal (5/10) * Ask Samantha Fleming of her casino being robbed. (Available after unlocking Beg, Borrow, or Steal 5/10) * Investigate Casino Lounge. (Clues: Loot Bag, Diamond Ring; Prerequisite: Talk to Samantha) * Examine Loot Bag. (Result: Gold Bars) * Examine Gold Bars. (Result: Casino Gold Bars) * Report to Samantha about the thieves. (Reward: 5,000 Coins; Prerequisite: Casino Gold Bars identified) * Examine Diamond Ring. (Result: Serial Number) * Analyze Serial Number. (06:00:00) * Ask August Eastman about his stolen ring. (Reward: Business Suit; Prerequisite: Serial Number analyzed) * See what is wrong with Maria Benedetti. (Available after unlocking Beg, Borrow, or Steal 5/10) * Investigate Vocation City Graveyard. (Clue: Pile of Dirt; Prerequisite: Talk to Maria) * Examine Pile of Dirt. (Result: Maria's Notebook) * Examine Maria's Notebook. (Result: Circled Words) * Analyze Circled Words. (12:00:00) * Go see how Maria is holding up. (Reward: Burger; Prerequisite: Circled Words analyzed) * Move on to the next case! (No stars) Navigation Category:All Fanmade Cases Category:Cases of Clearford